Geno Auriemma calls out "disrespectful" treatment of Creighton, Big East conference after UConn emerges victorious
Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies won their ninth consecutive game on Saturday, beating the Creighton Bluejays 72-61 at CHI Health Center Omaha. The UConn coach leaned on the stellar performances of Sarah Strong and Paige Bueckers to preserve their unbeaten record in Big East play.
After the double-digit win, Auriemma praised the Bluejays in his postgame press conference and called out the disrespect of the Big East conference.
"It’s hard to figure [out] how they could not be like a top-20 team when you watch them play on film and certainly in person," Geno Auriemma said. "You look at their schedule, I don’t know what bad losses they have."[4:48]
"That people disrespect our conference. They just think our conference is UConn and nobody else, which is kind of disrespectful because they’re a really good team and maybe the most experienced team in the country," Auriemma added.
The Huskies were tested early, though, by the Bluejays, who headed into their clash against UConn with a perfect 8-0 record against Big East opponents. Creighton kept things close in the first quarter, trailing UConn by just two points after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Huskies pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Bluejays 18-6 during that period to take a commanding 33-19 lead at the break. UConn cruised to victory after that to improve its overall record to 19-2. D
Geno Auriemma continues Big East dominance with help from Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong
Geno Auriemma and the No. 6 UConn Huskies continued their mastery of Big East opponents with their win over Creighton. They have now won their last 30 games against Big East teams in the regular season following their victory against the Bluejays.
Sarah Strong got the party started for UConn, scoring 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals in the first half to help the Huskies build a 14-point lead at the break. Paige Bueckers then took over in the second half, scoring 19 points during that period. She finished the game with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Bueckers shot 9-for-20 from the floor, including 3-for-8 from deep. Strong led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting. It was the 11th time this season that the freshman forward has scored at least 20 points in a game.